“It seemed to him that in [urban slums], fortunes derived not just from what people did, or how well they did it, but from the accidents and catastrophes they dodged. A decent life was the train that hadn’t hit you, the slumlord you hadn’t offended, the malaria you hadn’t caught.” ― Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful… Continue reading Decoding Financial Lives of Urban Poor
Full disclosure- I’m a lawyer. And just like most other professional pursuits, being a lawyer affects the way you think and the manner in which you perceive the world. But this field also makes you cognizant of the way in which the world perceives you and your industry. The legal world has… Continue reading A New Paradigm for Contracts
This discussion paper “Innovation and Intellectual Property in India’s ICT Sector” consolidates and provides a perspective on the key insights from a roundtable discussion held on 9th of March, 2018 at Ahmedabad. Representatives of several stakeholders critical for innovation in a globalising economy – government, industry, industry associations, academia, legal fraternity and bilateral organisations –… Continue reading Innovation and intellectual property in India’s ICT sector
The Bharat Inclusion Team and Research Fellows. In his work, that has long become the material of common wisdom, the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter identified an entrepreneur as an agent of change. Schumpeter characterized the entrepreneur as the force required to drive economic progress, as the proactive carrier of transformation in economies that are… Continue reading When Fellows Talk Inclusion
This report is structured as a funnel, with each section being more focused and pointed than the immediately preceding one. It presents an overview, current investment and funding landscape, and a guide for investors and funders for A2E and SM separately. It also outlines the current funding and investment scenario in both the sectors and… Continue reading Access to energy and sustainable mobility: Landscaping funding and investments in India
Digitizing medical prescriptions and ensuring data ownership rests with the patient could open up a large market spanning healthcare decision support, wellness and insurance industries in India. There is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to use IndiaStack to activate this market. According to data from Medical Council of India, there are close to 8,00,000… Continue reading Use Case: Digitizing Prescriptions using IndiaStack
Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint Vidyaviniyogadvikasah, meaning “development through the application of knowledge,” is the motto of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). This motto has served as an apt rudder throughout the course of its history, as the institute, alumni, staff and faculty played change-makers to address the various developmental needs of India. The… Continue reading Now is the best time to create solutions for Bharat
From a neoclassical economics perspective, entrepreneurship involves rational decision-making and entrepreneurs engage in rational, goal-driven behavior. However, such a view is put to test in current, dynamic business environments characterized by high level of uncertainty. Expert entrepreneurs adopt a nimble, iterative and effectual approach to be able to navigate such dynamic environments. While there is… Continue reading Does Entrepreneurial Logic Impact Funding Evaluation of Startups?
Abstract Desh Deshpande, On Entrepreneurship and Impact, Melbourne and New Delhi: Prolibris Publishing India Pvt Ltd, 2016, 105 pp. ‘On Entrepreneurship and Impact’ comes from the desk of an acclaimed entrepreneur, philanthropist and impact investor, Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande. This is Deshpande’s first book and focuses on broad themes of impact and entrepreneurship especially… Continue reading Book Review: Desh Deshpande, On Entrepreneurship and Impact
The term innovation, though used currently excessively in our day-to-day lives, continues to be pivotal in improving holistic performance. Though innovation is not easy to find, it is considerably more far-reaching than mere improvement. It is also important to consider the fact that institutions and organizations are faced with situations that offer grounds for… Continue reading Innovation as a Driver of Economic Growth
India is predominantly an agrarian economy. Farming contributes about 17% to India’s GDP, and about 60% of the country’s rural households depend on agriculture and its associated industries. Despite having the second-largest arable land parcel—its 160 million hectares make it second only to the US—India is way behind some developed, as well as developing, countries… Continue reading Indian farming’s next big moment: Farming as a Service
Over the last few years, Aadhaar usage has gone up significantly. 2017 was a banner year, with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) servicing 10 billion authentication requests, and 3.5 billion electronic-Know Your Customer (eKYC) requests. September was the peak, where the UIDAI serviced an average of 48 million transactions a… Continue reading Aadhaar’s break out in India